AFROFUTURISM

Racheal Daniel

Fashion Promotion

research

To help choose me a

the topic for my fmp , I created a mind map of things that interested me and did a little research into each topic (artist research). i did this to see what topic I could actually spend 6 weeks doing without hitting a dead end or getting bored of.however I decided to go with Afro-futurism as I am more passionate about it than the others. It is also something I can relate to so I had a more personal connection with it. I've also always wanted to do a project where I explored afro-futurism and this was the perfect opportunity for me to do so within the time frame I was given

Initial research

I did further research into afro-futurism to gain a stronger understanding of the movement, its aims, why and how it was founded as well as artists and musicians which exhibit the movement. a lot of the information I gathered was enlightening as before I started this project I thought afroftutursim was just based on purely aesthetics but through research I have learnt that it is a 'porttal' for black people to escape to, to eradicate past traumas and struggles particularly slavery

research :INTITAL IDEAS-MOODBOARD

I know that I am going to do a photoshoot for one of the final outcomes so i created a mood board to inspire me.This moodboard looks at styling as well as colour palette. i referenced the album covers for two black music artists kaytranada and Janelle Monet who also have influences of afro-futurism within their music.

Research: Music video references

since I am creating a promotional film for this project I wanted to collate some music video references that encapsulate black futurism from the styling to the visuals. this will help inform my future test shoots and overall final outcome. A majority of music videos have a distinct blue color palette and silver/metallic clothing so I am going to incorporate these visuals in the outcome when looking at references I looked at both current and past music videos as both have different techniques of displaying futurism. Janet Jackson and Busta Rhythms, what's it gonna be, music video contains a lot of metallic styling as well as strong blue lighting to give the effect of being underwater. because CGI and technology was not as advanced back then compared to now, fabric and lights were used to create sets that looked otherworldly and futuristic. Whereas in the most recent music videos like Kali Uchis and amaare, Sad gurl love money, music video, a lot of graphics and CGI was used to encapture that futuristic matrix look. i can easily replicate the techniques used in past music videos with items which are easily accessible compared to the current ones since i do not have the technology and editing programs used

Research: film references

Like my music video references, I also looked at black futuristic films. Black panther was the biggest film within the black community especially since it was the first all black Marvel movie which was heavily inspired by african culture. The 5th element and Neptune frost have very strong styling which I will take inspiration from. Although the matrix is not a black film, I wanted to take inspiration from the dystopian, si-fi vibe.

research:Promotional poster inspiration

I am also creating a promotional poster alongside the film as the film so I wanted to find posters which are as strong depiction of Afrofuturism

research+ context: African fashion exhibition

This exhibition explores iconic mid 20th century to contemporary African creatives through music,photography,fashion,textiles and visual arts. It explores the global impact that the continent has achieved.

I found this exhibition extremely helpful as it has given me an insight on Africas history through fashion and visual arts. I can take the photography aspects and develop them in a more ‘futuristic way’ to show how the culture is evloving

research: Market RESEARCH

i conducted this questionnaire and posted it to my Instagram story to use the information to 1- see what aspects of black culture should be portrayed in my final outcome and 2- to help inform my customer profile.

PECHA KUCHA

Supporting research starting points

Materials and processes

Outcome outline

CONTEXT:CUSTOMER PROFILE

CONTEXT:mission statment

"to bring together the black community through celebrating the culture and elevating it. embracing what makes us unique"

CONTEXT:OVERALL Treatment

CONCEPT BOARD

HAIR MOODBOARD

STYLING BOARD

PHOTOGRAPHY/MOOD

Location

Evaluation

At this point in the project, i feel like its too broad and doesnt focus on one part of black culture. i am looking at Afrofuturism as a big picture and not the individual elements that make it. because of this, i am struggling to find things to experiment with and test out.so I spoke to fiona and she gave me some starting points to look into. the questions she gave me were which part of black culture did I want to focus on, cultural clothing, tribes, hair etc.

Hair was something I wanted to look further into especially because in my survey, a lot of responses referenced how hair was a big part of their identity as a black woman

primaary research -poems

looking at poerty as a reference to discover the feeling black women feel about their hair. i wanted to use words instead of images to expand the type of research i was conducting

RESEARCH:history of black hair

because i was looking at black hair, it was important that i had fundamnetal knowege about how it was discovered, established and how it is celebrating today.

RESEARCH:J.D. Okhai Ojeikere

I conducted some artist research of a photographer who focused on encapturing the beauty of traditioanl african hair styles such as african threading and cornrows. i did this to create a foundation for my test shoots, how I am going to take these traditional styles and elevate them making them look more futuristic.

RESEARCH :Pop culture references-drag queen

for pop culture references i took hair inspiration from black drag queens who show their creativity through their hair. Particularly symone (displayed in the video) made it a point in her drag to always encoropate black culture within her hair whether that being barids, tribal beads or even in one runway she made an exageratted durag to glamify something that is seen as masculine

PRACTICAL SKILL: Test shoot 1

This is my first test shoot/experiment. i decided to focus on how I would elevate traditional box braids by creating a structure.

evalauation- to improve this shoot i would use silver accessories in the hair to amp up the futurism element. i would also amp up the futuristic elements through editing +lighting

PRACTICAL SKILL:Test shoot 2

i did this shoot the next day and used my previous evaluation to improve this shoot. i SELECTED THIS PARTICULAR MODEL AS HER HAIR WAS VERY INTERESTING AND ALSO HAD AFRICAN BEADS IN IT WHICH TIES BACK TO ME LOOKING AT AFRICAN HAIRSTLES. i used wire in the hair to create a spiral shape at the front of the hair. i also used metallic accsessories in the hair to amp up the futuristic element as well as using accesories.

Evaluation- i feel like i improved a lot from my first shoot by adding metallic details which push the futuristic element howver i would like to use editing push the boundaries even further.

PRACTICAL SKILL:Test shoot edits

During my group crit my peers were impressed by my ability to create exaggerated hairstyles however they mentioned that to push my ideas even further I should experiment with editing which I also agreed with especially since my previous references display a lot of blue/purple hues.to respond to peer feedback I edited the previous shoots using Lightroom to make them look more futuristic. I took my research into futuristic music videos to inform my color palette (blues + purples) the blue hues also make my model look alien-like which heavily links to the sci-fi aesthetic which is very futuristic

PRACTICAL SKILL:Test shoot edits

similar to my previous edit, i used blue hues to edit the photographs and also experimented

with the vignette effect to more depth to the photos. i also used the whitening tool on Picsart to brighten the metallic accessories to make them more highlighted to they would stand out.

Evaluation- I am very satisfied with the edit as it encapsulates the intergalactic feeling I want to portray and it is obvious that is what I want to display to viewers

evaluation

at this point in the project, i am becoming more specific about what i want my final outcome to be. i know i want it to be a series of styled photoshoots that specifically look at traditional black hair in an exaggerated way to push the futuristic aesthetic i also want the styling to be heavily inspired by futuristic references from the 90s/ early 2000s. i know that alongside i want a promotional short film that displays a sense of community within black women how doing our hair/ styling/makeup brings us together.

research: styling references 90s y2k futurism

Brave New Unwired World Technology Fashion Show, Hong Kong 1995

i love the 90s take on futurism also know as y2k futurism. it contains full metalic looks with a mixture of either white of blue materials. this will be the inspiration for my styling

PLANNING AND PRODUCTION: EASTER BREAK TIMETABLE

i created a weekly planner for the easter break as this is the time i want to get most my content shot mainly because some of my models were coming back to london from university so it was the best opportunity ot shoot them. the first week of the holiday I plan to source the outfits and jewelry for the shoots

PRACTICAL SKILL:film story board

i created a story board for my promotional for my videographer. essesially the video is the bts of my shoot showing strong sense of community and black joy. the models feeling beautiful and powerful. i am going to use both VHS cameras and a canon to film this to add different depth to the video. the vhs cameras to be used to show more casual and raw ( vlog like) footage

PLANNING AND PRODUCTION : shoot 1 moodboard

so this first shoot takes place in a hair shop which is esecially one of the most visited places for a black woman. i wanted to have a familar place in tis shootthat my target audience could see themselves in but wanted the shoot to be elevated in terms of style and hair not just a casual photoshoot. the futrustic aspect comes from the styling and hair but the setting brings in the 'Afro' aspect

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 1 contact sheet

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 1 edited

EVALUATION

This shoot was harder than i imagined. first of all it was a bit of a struggle to find a hair shop that would allow photography as a lot of managers were comfortable with their store being photographed. on the third try one worker asked their manager if it was allowed. the manager stated their concerns that some customers may not want to be in the background of shoots. i convinced him that I would make sure not to shoot around customers and if one happened to walk by I would put the camera down. the manager gave us 1 hour to shoot. this time wastage and struggle of finding a shop during shoot time could've been avoided if I sourced out available shops days before the shoot to prepare shop workers that a shoot was going on.the second problem was the limited time of doing everything. the styling was already sorted as the model tried on the look before the shoot so everything fitted right. however I had to do the hair styling in the shop at the back with customer still walking around the area. at times the hairstyle would completely collapse and i had to redo it a number of times. But after all these issues, I was able to finally shoot. this experience has taught me how to work well under pressure and within a limited time which I think will be a bit help working in the industry in the future. but moving forward I need to manage and plan for an obstacles in shoot particularly in location shoots.

CONTEXT: shoot 2 moodboard

Practical skill:making hair pieces

I achieved these hair hoops through wrapping crochet locs around each hoop and securing the hair in place with hot glue.

i used circular objects found in my house as the foundation.

PRODUCTION AND PLANNING: shoot 2 models call sheet

created a call sheet with the timings i wnated everything done so that i would not get overwhellmed with evrything happeneing all at once. it also helped me to keep timing as i only had kit booked out from 11 am to 4:30 pm so i had to make sure getting the model ready as efficiently as possible.

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 2 contact sheet

PRACTICAL SKILL: favourite shots unedited

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 2 edit

EVALUATION

This was my first fully directed shoot where i was in charge of styling, hair, photography and lighting. iam overall extremely proud of the outcome. i planned everything thoroughly so no mishaps were made. the only problem I came across was the broken backdrop. It would only go up to a certain height which was too short for my model with he big hoop hairstyle. when I test shooting the model standing you could see the ceiling and I couldn't crop it out during editing at I would also be cutting out the hairstyle. however I did not let this problem affect my confidence in the shoot. instead I got the model to either sit down or squat so the backdrop could be still seen (problem-solving) the blue lighting is prominent in my photography but to make it even more visible i used lightroom to enhance the colour using saturation and hue settings

PRACTICAL SKILL: creating front cover for book

We had a home task to create a first draft for the front cover for out projects.i used a simple futuristic font. i used purple to match well witht he colours of the photography. we then had a workshop on how to create a strong front cover and were told to redesign whayt we previously done. i used a more futuristic metalic text instead which matched better with the metallic styling. i then put a bubble over the models to create that feeling of escapism almost otherworldy

Evaluation

At this point i have done two main styled shoots which i am proud of. howver since i am making a photo book, i need to produce more content to display a variety of editorials. During the group review, my peers gave me some ideas on how to create more content and not nessiscarily through more editiorials but still life to balance out my photobook. so to move forward my project i am taking these ideas into account. in addition to content, I need to focus more on the graphic side of my photobook like text. how I will incorporate futurism into titles

PRACTICAL SKILL: experimenting with still life

feeding back from my peers feedback, i used a scanner to create still life pieces. i used the hair used in to photoshoots to create close ups of thme. i experimented with layout and how i would make the pieces look more interesting but not overcomplicated

PRACTICAL SKILL: experimenting with still life

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 3 test shoot

As i was taking this photshoot on my own, i kind of struggled to set up the camera in placehense why some out out of focus. however i like the effect it gave as it makes the photography look more dynamic

RESEARCH: futuristic font research page

here is a page i conducted full of futuristic text. Elisexrose was a graphic designer i found who designs very futuristic/abstract font. i also reference 90s music videos and their use of text as inspiration for my own

PRACTICAL SKILL: experimenting with font

Here is me experimenting with creating my own font using adobe illustrator

PLANNING AND PRODUCTION: shoot 4 moodboard

Here is my moodboard for my 4th shoot heavily inspired by the movie the matrix. the focus in styling is dark, leather, latex which contrasts to my previous shoots which were bright and metallic.

RESEARCH: styling refrences for shoot 3

AFROFUTURISM: shoot 4 call sheet

i created a call sheet to ensure that i was keeping to timings since my model was only availible for a short amount oftime

before the shoot i went around scouting for locations. my plan for this shoot is very matrix inspired so I was looking for metallic buildings to display futuristic themes.

AFROFUTURISM: shoot 4 contact sheet

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 4 favourite photos unedited

PRACTICAL SKILL: TESTING OUT IDEA

when shooting i noticed that the building i was shooting behind was dusty and tried to write 'afrofuturism on the walls so that when i took the photos you could see the writting on top of the model. howver this idea didnt work witht he camera, you couldnt see the writing from a distance also due to the reflection of the lighting and sun

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 4 photos edited

In reference to the matrix, i editied the photos green using lightroom

RESEARCH: matrix graphics

As well as the green hues, the matrix aesthetic also has a lot of graphics such as glitch text so that was something I wanted to incorporate

PRACTICAL SKILL: CREATING MATRIX GLITCH

This is my process making the glitch effect background. instead of using random letters for the glitch, i used quotes to inspire balck women. in the final result yiu cant really clearly see the quotes but can still see some of the words

PRACTICAL SKILL: incorporating glitch into photography

I used the matrix inspired background I made and edited it into my photography using photoshop to give them a more matrix look. I used different levels of blend to see how which one was more successfull. I actually like all of them because they evoke matrix vibes but in different shain different variations

RESEARCH: shoot 5 concept board

PRACTICAL SKILL: shoot 5 garment process+ deveopment

To make the base for the tops i make a bunch of braids using marley hair. Once they were made i started draping them using them as fabric from the tops. i experimented on different styles of tops. it was initally quite difficult to create shapes with the hair as it is thick and stiff so difficult to manaover but i eventually got used to creating structures with the use of lots of pins

AFROFUTURISM: shoot 5 final garment making

since i am modelling the top, i decided to used a top that fit me as a base. I them individually sewed each braid onto the top. this was a very tedious process as the needle was struggling to fit through the braids at times but I got ther in the end

problem solving: shoot 5 set making

for this shoot because it was a home shoot, i had to reshuffle my living room to reveal a black wall so i could build my background. i dont have a proffesional back drop so i used a white beddin. the pink material is a traditional kenyan material called 'leso'. it is traditionally used as a wrap during hot weather or on top of clothing to protect them from dust. i encourapated the material as a reference to african culure which ties my project together. i used a sunset lamp as my lighting source to create a warm vibe.

AFROFUTURISM: shoot 5 contact sheet

practical skill: shoot 5 favourite photos edited

practical skill: experimenting with front cover edits

Here I was experimenting with the colour and texture for my front cover using light room . I wanted it to tiein with the rest of the photo book. so I mainly stuck with the blue/purple colour scheme

practical skill: experimenting with spread layout

Here I amexperimenting with layout to see what works well together and what doesnt

evaluation: probelem ecountered

My orginal font would not save when i exported it so i had to change it last minute. upon reflection i like the changed fotn way better as it is clearer and more legible

PLANNING AND PRODUCTION:task list development

outcome:promotional video

https://youtu.be/L_r3VUKBo48

as mentioned previously i wanted the promotional video to be of my model behind the scenes “feeling themselves“ being confident and feeling beautiful. Whist also showing the behind the scenes of doing the hair styles esentially showing a sense of community within black women. Recordingsome scenes on a vhs camera gives a sense of rawness showing the models in their true form especially as most the vhs clips are off guard and occurred naturally

Outcome: posters

https://issuu.com/rachealdaniel/docs/photobook_0dab70c43a669d

Final outcome: photo book

Final bibliography

Romano, A. (2018) Janelle Monáe's body of work is a masterpiece of modern science fiction, Vox. Vox. Available at: https://www.vox.com/2018/5/16/17318242/janelle-monae-science-fiction-influences-afrofuturism (Accessed: March 5, 2023).

Afrofuturism (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism (Accessed: March 5, 2023).

Kenny, G. (2018) Exploring afrofuturism in film, where sci-fi and mythology Blur, The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/movies/touki-bouki-streaming-afrofuturism.html (Accessed: March 5, 2023).

Dazed (2018) Notes on afrofuturism, by MunachiOgsebu, Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/41891/1/notes-on-afrofuturism (Accessed: March 12, 2023).

Ferla, R.L. (2016) Afrofuturism: The next generation, The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/fashion/afrofuturism-the-next-generation.html (Accessed: March 12, 2023).

Lunaticharlie, P. (2021) Afrofuturist visual artists shaking today art world, POINT ZERO WORLD. Available at: https://pointzeroworld.com/2020/09/07/afrofuturist-visual-artists-shaking-today-art-world/ (Accessed: March 12, 2023).

Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/fashion/afrofuturism-the-next-generation.html (Accessed: 23 March 2023).

Davis, J. and Davis, J. (2022) How black women are reshaping afrofuturism, YES! Magazine. Available at: https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/04/24/how-black-women-are-reshaping-afrofuturism (Accessed: 21 March 2023).

Dazed (2018) Notes on afrofuturism, by Munachi Ogsebu, Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/article/41891/1/notes-on-afrofuturism (Accessed: 23 March 2023).

https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/13322/inside-a-new-photography-zine-inspired-by-afrofuturistic-merfolks

Havlin, L. (2015) A history of female Afrofuturist fashion, AnOther. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/7791/a-history-of-female-afrofuturist-fashion (Accessed: 28 March 2023).

Paoletti, G. (2014) A tribute to J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere (1930–2014), The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2014/jd-okhai-ojeikere (Accessed: 04 April 2023).